Shopping centre giant Intu has swung to a £2bn loss and warned that it could go out of business.
The owner of the Gateshead Metrocentre and the Trafford Centre saw its revenues fall by £38.8m during 2019 as it was hit by a number of retail firms going out of business and others getting reduced rents through CVAs.
But a huge revaluation of its properties saw it record losses of £2.021bn in 2019, following a £1.173bn loss in the previous 12 months. The company reported a 6.6% drop in income to £542.3m.
Intu chief executive Matthew Roberts said the company was making progress on a rescue plan, but admitted that the results “indicate a material uncertainty in relation to intu’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
Shares in Intu plunged at the beginning of March when it revealed it had been forced to abandon plans to raise up to £1.5bn to pay down its debt.
The firm had hoped the funds could help reduce the firm’s £4.5bn debt, but Mr Roberts said investors were put off by the equity market and the retail property investment market.
In the annual results, Mr Roberts said that other options were available to the company, including selling off some centres. Intu has disposed of two shopping centres in Spain in recent months and owns nine of the 海角视频’s top 20 shopping malls.
The group is also looking to secure some breathing space from its lenders, by negotiating covenant waivers.
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Mr Roberts said: "In the short term, fixing the balance sheet is our top priority.
"We have options including alternative capital structures and further disposals to provide liquidity, and will seek to negotiate covenant waivers where appropriate."
He added: "We are focusing all our energies on moving the business forward."
The firm's full-year results showed like-for-like rental income tumbled by 9.1% in 2019 - half of which was caused by the surge in retail rescue deals and administrations.
Last year saw soaring levels of retail company voluntary arrangements, with many struggling chains demanding lower rents and shutting stores to survive.
It saw a drop in the numbers of shoppers visiting its 海角视频 sites, with so-called footfall down 0.1% in Britain, though it edged 0.3% higher overall.
The coronavirus outbreak threatens to add to the group's troubles, but it said footfall had so far remained broadly unchanged in the first 10 weeks of 2020.
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It is "monitoring" the coronavirus crisis and potential impact on its sites if shoppers are forced to stay away.
Intu added it expects 海角视频 retail valuations to sink further in 2020, but is expecting this to start stabilising soon, while it hopes for a slowdown in like-for-like net rental income declines.